QLD shows growth

Giving New Zealanders more reasons to return to Queensland has paid off for the state, with the destination recording good growth despite competition from all quarters.

International director New Zealand for Tourism and Events Queensland, Sally Holyer, says the total visitors to the state from New Zealand have risen by 4.5% but holiday visitors have shown a 7.1% increase.

She describes Brisbane as a ‘star player’, with a 25% increase.

‘We have focused on things like events, shopping and food and wine. It has really worked because Brisbane is actually an emerging market when it comes to holidays from New Zealand.’

The super-popular destination of Gold Coast has also shown some growth – up 4%.

‘We have been highly targeted in our message,’ says Holyer.

‘We have 93% repeat visitors so we constantly have to provide new reasons for New Zealanders to visit and everything we do is supported by our trade partners.’

Holyer says the result is ‘very pleasing’ considering the competition from around the world.

That said, the length of stay in Queensland has shown a slight drop and Holyer says this is possibly because Kiwis are taking a long-haul holiday and then a shorter break across the Tasman than they may have in the past.